St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-07-12
a Sloop Yachts Captain Precipitates an
Awful Catastrophe by Trying to
Move His Boat Too Fast.
The Yacht Thrown on Her Beam End
and Nearly Two Score People
Thrown Into The Water.
twenty-five or Thirty of Them Go Down
to Death---The Boats Passengers
Mostly Women.
The Names of Many of the Drowned Still
Unknown---The Stories Told by
the Few Survivors.

y
Mystery left Rutfle bar, an island III
CanariSie bay. at o'clock last evening,
laden almost to the gunwale with women
and children. When off Barren island
Ell route for CarnariSie, the yacht cap
sized. and only thirteen of the forty
souls comprising her passengers and
crew are known to have been rescued.
The party which was involved in this
terrible disaster was made up chiefly of
German families. resident i'll Brooklyn
and Long Island City. The sun was
lust sinking when the passengers of the
Mystery and Christina gathered on the
pier to embark for CanariSie. So many
of the men of the party showed the
effects OF the beer they had drunk that
the shippers thought lit best to put the
women and children aboard the Mys-
tery. which is a cabin yacht. forty feet
long, and ranked as Il much safer
boat than her cOnsOrt." The
women protested. Their protest was
umheeded. The Mystery and its pre-
ci0us load swung off from the Rutfie bar
pier at Z o'clock. The Christina, as
could be easily seen, was about swing
ing out in the MyStery'S wake. Capt.
Hendricks0n. of the Mystery, said in
the hearing Of the women who were res
cued. that he was going to get to Car
narisie first of blow stick out. Mrs.
SwitZer. OF Green Point, made
MOST EARNEST PROTEST
against more sail. as the boat was al
ready heading to in a way that fright
ened the women almost into Mysteries.
Capt. Hendrickson declared that he
could sail the Mystery through a gale,
and persisted in his order for more sail.
The reef knots were unfaStened and the
boom dropped just as Squall OF consld-
cradle violence struck the sail. In sec
ond she was on beam ends and all the
people were struggling in the chOppy sea.
The catastrophe was witnessed from the
tug J. G. Dean, which was then over
two miles away. For five minutes the
Yacht remained on her beam end, and
the shrouds and bulwarkS afforded
some hold for the engulfed people. The
struggle for place to hold on was awful.
Fully half of the drO Wning people were
children. The mothers made frantic
efforts tc get their little ones to where
they could hold Oh 10 something. One
after another they were swept off IN the
tide way. and buoyed by their clothing
their hands waved in frant and un-
availing appeals for help. Before the
Dean got near enough to be OF use, a
negro nut out from Barren Island in a
rOv boat and was the first to aid the
drowning people. Altogether seven of
the lives saved are TO be credited solely
to his efforts. When the Dean arrived
there were few OF the victims still above
the surface. As she neared
A WOMAN FLOATING,
trying to buoy up her fOur-year-old
child. a man on the guard suddenly eX
claimed. My God. that is my wife"
and dived 10 her aid. The woman had
already lost her grip on the child and
was about sinking when he reached her.
He had the choice of saving her or his
child. and lac chose the wife. He and
she were soon drawn on board the Dean.
but the child sank before their eyes.
The next grappled was Il woman of
middle age, who had been kept on the
surface by her StOutness. She, how
ever. was so exhausted that she died
few minutes after she was brought
aboard the tug. 4 child and another
woman died after they were taken out,
but the Deans willing passengers and
crew succeeded in reScuing five alive.
According to the latest reports this
morning the disaster proves to be fully
as serious as at first stated. The number
OF lives lost will not be less than twenty
five and is likely to reach tWenty-SeVen.
The party was mainly from the eastern
district Of Brooklyn, and was known as
the Crescent Yacht club. 1t was a NOM
inal organization simply for the pur-
poses Of choWder party or picnic. and
in the depth of grief and horror that the
accident has plunged its members they
are scarcely able to tell the particulars
OF the makeup of their own party. The
number of invited guests. known only
to the persons who extended the invita-
tionS. and not to the others, makes it
impossible even yet 10 give
LIST OF TIE PASSENGERS
of the ill-fated Yacht The best adviceS
estimate the whole load at thirty-seven,
and the number of the saved is only ten.
The following is list OF the lost up TO
the latest reports:
MICHAEL SCHWIND, the blind ACCORDION
player. residence unknown.
MRS. BRANDELL.
MRS. LOUISE OBERNIER, of Brooklyn.
Her husband, John. Was III one of the other
FRANK!E OBETNIER, seven years old.
LIZZIE 0BEHNIER, five years old.
CHARLIE OBEBNIER, two years old.
MRS. WEISS. of Busharck avenue.
MRS. FARGO. the daughter Of Mrs. Weiss.
MRS. FARGO'S child.
ANNIE BADER: nineteen years old, OF
PHILIP LoMBERG.
FREDDY LOMBERG.
GEORGE KRING, eight years old, o. Car
n'!I NICHOLAS sCHEIDE, of DeKalb ave
CAPT. DAVID HENDRICKSoN, of Car
HENRY uENDRICKSON, nine years Old,
the captain 5 son.
tc he survivors. supposed to be James
B rgess and Mark Start. There are
Others missing and undoubtedly
drowned. but as some of the people OF
the chowdcr party returned TO Williams
burg last night. their names could not
be aScertained at Carnarsie. The sur
yiyurs and the others of the club, who
were on the other boats, still cling TO
hope, and speak of the absent as miss
ing. but the Carnarsie boatEfn have no
doubt that all are lost. fhcrc is no
room for the belief that any rcscues
were made beyond those accompl shed
Inv the heroic work of the colored sailor
Robinson. They were the women and
children brought ashore by the tug
Edith Dean. Capt. Rhode. The descrip-
tiOu of the accident and the circum-
stances of the rescue are told alike by
tile crew and passengers of the Dean
and those of the slOop Christina, which
was sailing almost in company with the
Mystery. Mrs. MeyerDerg, Mrs A. X.
P6nlwit and three children, and John
SwitZcr's two children, are also known
to be among those drowned.
The following is revised list of the
p,.rsons Whose bodies have been re-
covered:
Mrs. Mary Brandt. aged forty-two; Mrs.
Mary Grimes aged twentythree: her son
Willie, thTeean a-half years; her daugh